A professional website is essential for any business, but the process can seem overwhelming. Gary Matthew Payne has been developing websites for more than ten years. Today, he’s here to explain the web development process.
Table of Contents
Step 1. Information Gathering
The first step in web development is information gathering. During this stage, you’ll speak with your developer about your goals for the website and your target audience.
This informs all other aspects of the website. According to Gary Matthew Payne, the best websites meet the target audience’s needs in a user-friendly fashion.
Step 2. Planning
The next stage in the process is planning. During this stage, a sitemap will be created. The sitemap lays out all the critical areas of your website and how they interact with each other.
Mockups will also be created during this phase. These are static images that represent the visual look of your website.
Step 3. Design and Coding
Now the web developer will take the plans for the website and bring it to life. The mockups and site map are used as a template. Coding is used to transform these ideas into a website, according to Gary Matthew Payne.
The home page is created first, and then subpages are added subsequently. Once the mockups are created and tested, interactive features can be added.
Step 4. Review and Testing
The process doesn’t end once the website is created. The next phase is testing. Each link is tested. Web pages are tested in different browsers to ensure everything is visually correct. Code validators can be used as well. Spelling and grammar should also be checked during this phase.
Step 5: Website Launch
The launch process begins with an FTP, or file transfer protocol. The website will be tested again to ensure that all the files are uploaded correctly.
Gary Matthew Payne states that plug-ins are installed during this step. Another important detail is SEO. The website’s title, keyword tags, and description will be considered and optimized for SEO during this phase.
Maintenance and Updates
Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that the process is complete once a website is live. However, this isn’t the case.
A website should be viewed as a work that is always in progress. Regular updates are important for security purposes, and they can help prevent bugs.
It’s also a great idea to check user feedback. End users may encounter issues that are not apparent when the website is created. If the developer is aware of the issue, it can be corrected.
A/B testing can also be performed once the website is functional. Two different versions of a page are shown to different users at random.
Statistics are compiled for each page. Over time, one page will outperform the other. The better-performing version is then used.
About Gary
Gary Matthew Payne is a Senior Full-Stack WordPress Developer. He specializes in Front-end, Back-end, and Multi-site project management. His goal is to help his clients close the technology gap, to keep their businesses successful. He’s highly experienced with Google SEO and all aspects of visual UI/UX.